Wednesday, 11 May 2011

How To Get Ahead In Nail Blogging

Starting a blog is hard work and it’s tough starting out unless you already have friends in the blogging community. Don’t expect to pick up hundreds of followers overnight, it takes hard work and dedication. If your heart is truly in it, you’ll get along just fine.

I’m not pretending that I’m successful or special in any way, these are just some tips I’ve picked up over the last year that might help you get ahead in nail blogging. However, I do not intend for this to be seen as a guide for how to get high amounts of followers. It's about being a part of the community and reaching an audience that loves to read what you have to offer.

All observations appearing in this work are based on my personal experiences of blogging. Any resemblance to real blogs or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Do Not Spam

This is the golden rule of blogging. Spamming will have a very detrimental effect on the success of your blog. Avoid it at all costs!!

‘Spamming’ refers to leaving your links all over the internet, particularly on other peoples' blogs, in the hope that people will visit your blog. These links are often accompanied by impersonal phrases like ‘Great blog! Check out mine’ or ‘Hey, I follow you. Follow me too?’ It’s likely these types of comments will be deleted.

Imagine you are this nail blogger who has been blogging for months, or even years, to build a dedicated readership. You work hard preparing pictures and posts, only to log on and find that someone is using your blog as a platform to score exposure for themself. I’m sure you can see why it’s not appreciated.

People will remember you if you leave spam on their blog, and not in a good way. They are more likely to avoid your blog forever than follow it.

The best way to approach people when you’re starting out is to send a personal email to each of the bloggers you admire. Explain that you’re just starting out and would appreciate if they could drop by your blog. If they like what you have to offer they will probably follow you but if they don’t, just leave it there. One email will suffice, don’t be pushy.

Cris perfectly summed up her feelings, which lots of people share, for this apparently recent phenomenon here.

Get Involved

Read as many nail blogs as you can. This will inspire you and keep you up to date with all the latest nail news. Leave friendly comments on your favourite posts and as people start to see your name a lot, they will click through to your profile and hopefully visit your blog.

Utilise Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great tools that shouldn’t be put to waste. They’re a great way of making friends in the blogging community and picking up advice.

Start a Facebook fan page for your blog

Many people don’t use Blogger or Google Friend Connect but will still read your blog. Facebook is a great way to reach the people that may not have another way of staying up to date with your posts.

Follow your fellow bloggers on Twitter

Get stuck in. Join in with conversations. This is the best way to be noticed by the people that can help you get seen. But be friendly, not pushy. Do not ask people to follow you, just let it happen.

Keep Your Nails Healthy

It’s important to keep your nails looking healthy. Nobody wants to see sad cuticles that have been starved of moisture or look red and sore from being snipped off. Moisturise your hands regularly and try to avoid cutting your cuticles.

Michèle wrote a great post about taking care of your cuticles that you can see here.

Take Good Pictures

In nail blogging, every tiny detail counts so it’s important that your pictures are of good quality. They should be well lit, in focus and the colours as close to real life as possible. No one expects you to have perfect pictures, especially when you’re just starting out. Photographing your own nails is a tricky business, but over time you’ll work out your own technique and see your pictures improving.

You do not need expensive camera equipment to take great pictures. Most bloggers use their compact digital cameras. Cell phone cameras are a no no.

No one will begrudge you for retouching your photos before you post them as long as you haven’t taken it to extremes or seriously manipulated the content. It is completely acceptable to tweak the colour settings if the colours in the picture are not true to real life, or airbrush out any unsightly scabs or wounds around your nails.

Be Friendly and Informal

Try not to sound too formal, but keep it professional. A friendly writing style will endear your readers to you and keep them interested. However, that doesn’t mean we want to hear every detail of your day. It’s nice to hear about things that are going on in a blogger’s life so we can relate to them but it’s not good to chatter about your crazy Saturday night (although I have been guilty of this on occasion!) or best friend’s relationship problems.

Have Patience

Gaining followers takes time and dedication. I blogged every single day for a few weeks before I even had one follower. I knew that if I had posted something worth reading, people would come across it by themselves and that I would have to produce consistently interesting posts so that people would want to continue reading my blog.

As soon as you have a few followers or people that enjoy reading your blog, news of your venture will spread. If people really like your blog, they might add it to their blog roll.

So there it is. Just some advice for anyone that might be struggling to get their blog noticed. Thank you for reading and if you have any experiences you want to share or any more advice you’d like to offer, just leave it in the comments.

I reserve the right to edit this post at any further date if I change my mind about any of the content!

As a new blogger, I appreciate you putting all of these tips together. It is comforting to know that other bloggers also go through ups and downs. I get a high when someone comments on my posts. When you keep posting and get no feedback it can sometimes get disconcerting. We all try our best and pour our hearts into our blogs, and it is nice to see others stop and take notice. Thanks for this post!!! xxx

Thank you Beej! I know what you mean, I was going to mention that but I don't even want to acknowledge the bloggers that just do it for the freebies because they bring down the rest of us. At the end of the day, blogging is something one should do because you love it. Just persevere if you enjoy it and the recognition should come.

I'm a new blogger too, and my weakest point is definitely commenting on others' posts. There are several blogs I read regularly, but I just feel tongue-tied and dorky when I try to leave comments.I agree with Beej- I feel like the only way people get followers is doing giveaways and such, and even though I dislike seeing that people get "Extra" entries for sharing the link on their own blog, it seems like the main way to get new readers.

Totally agree. I was so naieve when I started blogging (over a year ago). I saw some great blogs and said I can do that too. I didnt realise how much time it would take. Trying to get good pictures when it is sunny and you have spare time. My biggest problem is living in a small country on the other side of the world, where polishes come out 6 months late and cost a small fortune, its hard to attract readers when you are 6 months behind the rest of the world. So I try to cater my blog more to my country. I show polishes we can get here, and mention when collections do finally make it here. I appreciate all my followers from my little country

@Frances Don't worry too much about what you're saying, no one will judge you for it. Even if you just say something short and simple like, 'I love the colour, it reminds me of (xxx)' the blogger will see it and appreciate that you took the time to stop and comment. x

@Lisa Being in the UK, I'm in a similar predicament. It's hard to get hold of OPI, China Glaze etc. Luckily for me, I'm more geared towards nail art so I don't think people are too concerned with hearing all the latest news from me. Good luck with everything! x

These are great tips and as a new blogger I really appreciate them but I wish I had read them before as I think I've probably "spammed" a couple of bloggers. I can totally see how this would be annoying for them.

@glitterM That's very true, giveaways are a good way to boost numbers but don't guarantee that those followers have any real interest in your blog. In any case, they are a good way to get word of your blog out there as people spread the news for extra entries x

I follow your blog as well as a few others. I love this blog, I love your designs. As much as I love nail art I could never blog because honestly I am not an original thinker. I'm very grateful to all of those who are and come up with great designs for us to try as well.

I agree with you!!! it's so irritating reciving spam comments... but I think you skipped one important thing: do not copy or do no use a pic without a link!It's stealing! I recently found a blog that uses some of my pics without any link or quote about the author so... I write her and she said "oh, I didn't know that I should have put a link" ....

This is such a great post, Sammy! I agree about getting involved in the blogging community on Twitter and Facebook, I love following my fav bloggers on Twitter and engaging in the conversation. I think the key to success is consistency, and its the thing I have the most trouble with, particularly with my images. I really need a lightbox so that I can always have the same looking pictures no matter where or when I take them.

thank you very much for your advice! especially the part about patience was very uplifting for me. I just started out and was soo happy when the first few visitors appeared in the stastics after two monthSo thank you very much again!

Thanks for this! I decided to start my own nail blog after reading MANY others for a month or so. I always knew it would take a bit to get followers, but your suggestions show me that I'm doing it the right way.

Thanks for this post! Like lots of others here, I'm another new nail blogger, and I'm finding it really hard, not just to be interesting and have nice photos (I don't think I'm doing anywhere near as well on that as I want to!) but also to get people to read or comment. I'm going to try your steps - thank you!

I'm just adding my thanks as well... I started my blog 2-3 weeks ago and its a little hard to figure out what readers are interested in... I try to keep it true to my interests too (certain colors and brands), so the blog reflects my personality... In any case, thank you so much for your encouragement!!!

LOL "scabs or wounds"...don't know why I found that hilarious...But anyways, I just started blogging about a month and a half ago and I very much appreciate these tips. And I 100% agree about the spam, it is annoying when people spam you for anything.

Posting something like this paints you as a wonderful person. (Although I don't think I needed confirmation as you chose "Nailasaurus" as your site name. I mean c'mon. That's just awesome.)Many bloggers out there thank you for sharing your experiences! :)

thanks for this post. i recently started my blog and, as you mentioned, its hard to get followers (and i dont know how to!). so far my photos are pretty bad, and i thought all these great blogs like yours used professionals or something. but now i know! i need to step things up somehow with my pics.i love the idea of emailing bloggers. thanks for the tip.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. I'll put them to good use, although I actually already use some of the tips. I posted a link to my blog on facebook, on a group supporting men who paint their nails and gained a quick group of followers who all thought my first blog was great.

LOVE your stamped nails by the way, especially the dark red/black I think, with the woven metallic stamp. Wife & I will have to try that.

yayyyy! thank you so much, this is definitely good advice. i am a newbie and i find myself getting anxious for more publicity, but i am very modest (and cautious) about putting my blog out there. thanks for the tips!!!! love your blog, i'm a new follower!

I just started out myself. I feel like I am talking to myself right now on my blog, but I don't want to spam or even have a give-a-way to lure people in. I am hoping people will just find my through google searches or maybe see me commenting on other blogs. Thanks for the advice. I am still trying to get the hang of photographing my nails. I am seeing improvement within the past few weeks! Thanks again for taking the time to post this. It gives me hope:)

Thanks for the great advice! I just started my nail blog and your blog is one of the many that have inspired me to start my own and showcase my passion.Still getting the hang of photographing so the tips for picture taking were golden!

Great advice - I think that the hardest part for new bloggers is taking photographs. I appreciate your tips and tricks on doing so!

Also, I think people really need to learn to clean up after themselves. Not only having dried cuticles but also polish all over your fingers after you've finished your manicure is unsightly! Dipping a Q Tip in acetone usually does the trick for me :)

Excellent, excellent post. I went mad at first with the Twitter and the following everything that mentioned me or used #bbloggers. All it got me was a headache and a load of SEO 'experts' following me. Then I wised up, now i TALK to people on Twitter, joining in conversations and helping out if I can, and never really mention my blog. I post daily, sometimes twice, and post the link maybe once on Twitter, late at night, as most of my traffic is American for some reason. I have let people come to me, and have only around 40 followers in total, but that came in six months of regular blogging. As I get more skilled, I'll get more readers. But my ultimate goal is to be really good at Nailart, not massively popular. Thanks for a great article x

Thanks for the advice Sammy- I just started my blog about a month ago and I still have no followers :(. But I just keep posting and trying different things. I am passionate about nail polish and nail art and so I know that if my passion is genuine and I stick with it the followers will come- I hope :)

Hi Sammy. I've just recently come across your blog and you have done such a good job with your advice for everyone about blogging. I have watched other blogs but still feel a bit strange commenting on peoples posts. I have just started my own blog and am so glad I have come across this it is super helpful to a newbie. Thanks x

I'm also a newbie. I got inspired by pinterest to do my nails more regularly, and wanted a way to document it. So I decided to start a nail blog. I'm so happy to have found this post, the tips you have given are incredibly helpful. :)

hi sammy! im a newbie at nail blogging and i just want to tell you that this post is really helpful! i agree about the whole spamming thing and im also too shy to email bloggers personally. so i tell myself everyday that if i work hard, someone will eventually notice! haha i am definitely one of many that is inspired by your blog, particularly your advise about starting out. thank you and keep up the good work =)

Thank you very much for all the helpful tips! I just started a nail blog less than a week ago after having been inspired by some of the other nail blogs out there (yours included!), and I am glad you made a post about blogging. I love your blog and have been getting quite a bit of inspiration from your mani pics so thanks for that as well!

Whoa. I've been reading tons of blogs and this is the first blog I've come across to share advice to new bloggers. Thank you. Me and my friend have had our nail art / lifestyle blog up and running for a month now and the technical aspect of blogging seems to be my biggest hurdle - of course we had to do it the hard way and get our own domain right away even though we knew nothing about this stuff. It would be great if someone tech-savvy blogger could share their experiences about these things, i.e. "follow me"-buttons, sharing options, SEO etc. It's a friggin' nightmare when you are a total n00b in these things and try to learn technical whatnots reading that incomprehensible language tech sites always offers. I can't even sign in to my wordpress account atm when I'm trying to leave a comment and I don't know what I'm doing wrong ARGHHH/end rant

Anyway, I've enjoyed blogging very much despite all the challenges I've faced (one of them being from a small nordic country and writing the blog in two languages 'cause the nail art blog world seems to be mainly in english). I'm new to this nail art business and blogs (yours included) keep me motivated and give me tons of inspiration. So thank you again and have a happy summer :)-Emma from Wasting Lifestyle

Thank you so so much. I just started my blog last week and this has given me such a good insight to it all. I'm nothing special in nail art but wanted to show what I can do. Seeing my family is not to intersted I thought maybe someone, somewhere would be. I'm kind of slow at figuring these things out :oP Do you do anything on youtube? I love your work and would like to see some video demos

Thank you for this. As a new nail blogger I knew it would be difficult getting noticed but this has made me feel better. I've only been blogging a week and didn't have a clue how to be naturally noticed rather than pushy. Great tips!

A really great and honest piece, thank you. I have found myself leaving a link to my blog on peoples posts hoping that we can share a common interest as I absolutely love nail art and blogging about it but I can now see why this is probably not appropriate behaviour.

I shall definitely take your advice on board. It is disheartening sometimes writing blogs that are very time consuming just for an audience of 3 but as you say, it will take time and dedication.

Great tips, especially the note on avoiding using your phone camera! I'm a very new blogger and have started using my digital camera now and the difference is amazing, much more professional looking! Love your blog. :)

thankyou so much for this fantastic advice! i love your honesty haha, and i'll be sure to wait at least two weeks now before i start getting fussy about not having any followers! also thankyou for nail inspiration in general, your blog is fab :)

Any advice on how not to get discouraged? I'm just now revisiting this post of yours after reading it when you first posted it, and I just feel a bit.. deflated. I've kept my blog going for over a year and a half now, and still only have 17 followers. I like keeping the blog, and I'm going to keep it up even if I don't get any more followers, it just.. I don't know, I feel like I must be missing something.

Some good advice here, thank you! I'm just starting out writing a blog on my nails (not gonna post the link don't worry :p) but am waiting til I get better and have made a good amount of good posts. But I just wanted to add that phone cameras aren't always a no go, I have the samsung galaxy s3 and the camera is amazing! but that could be cos I'm used to the rubbish one on my last phone :p

I have the same phone and I agree, it's a very good camera. This post is nearly two years old now and technology has come a long way since then! I think you can get away with using your phone camera nowadays. You can even get special lenses to clip on to phones to make them amazing for macro too!

HEY! Thank you so much for this! I have been following you for ages and wanted to start my own blog in Australia. I have been doing it for a couple of weeks and feel a bit disheartened that I haven't received anything comments or follows yet. Just have to keep blogging and produce good quality blogs. Thanks again! B xx

This is a great resource. I've just started blogging (I have one whole post!), and realise I already did a huge no!no! (mobile picture) because I was so excited to have my first attempt at proper nail art turn out better than I had hoped. After reading this, I'll be using my camera from now on and trying to get them in the best light (not easy because I do all of my manicures at night when the baby has gone to bed).

You're so accurate and right!! I know some bloggers who have more than 2 years of bloggging and make a lot of these no-no's, innocently. May I ask you the permission to translate this to Portuguese, post in my blog and link you back? I'm pretty sure it'll be a lot useful for many people, but here not everybody understands English... ^^'

Loved reading through this, I definately feel a little in the deep end after starting my own blog up, its doing alright and I do get good view counts but no followers as to date. This kind of info is a god send to have out there, hopefully once I find my way through it all I can post things just as useful to others.

What do you think about communities and posting work onto these as well as blogs? Do you think it matters I'm not a huge trend follower, I have my own style and do what I fancy, do I need to stay 'with it' ? :') thanks!

Hi Sammers! Just came across this, and I think it helped me to remind myself of things (and pick up some new tips). I've had mine going since mid-2012, but don't ever really get comments or anything. I know I need to get more active in social media, but I just never used anything beyond Facebook really. I wonder if that's my problem, or something else (like, maybe I just suck! lol).

However, I recently got my own domain, and switched commenting platforms, and established a more regular posting schedule. I love living in Australia, where posting at 23:00 or midnight means morning for the US and midday for the UK :D soooo... maybe 2014 will be a better year!

Thanks again for sharing these tips, and being so sweet in your comments and just generally fun to read on your blog. Lots of love! xoxo

Oh, thank you for posting this! I am still too lazy to start blogging, but with the amount of the nail art already made, and polishes collected I feel it is slowly coming. I will definitely come back to your advices when I finally start.

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